Here’s the deal, folks: You do a commercial, you’re off the artistic roll call, forever. End of story. Okay? You’re a corporate fucking shill, you’re another whore at the capitalist gang-bang, and if you do a commercial, there’s a price on your head, everything you say is suspect, and every word that comes out of your mouth is now like a turd falling into my drink…

On this week’s episode of On Contact, Chris Hedges discusses the corporate state’s assault on the arts with theater director and writer JoAnne Akalaitis. RT Correspondent Anya Parampil examines calls to defund the National Endowment of the Arts.

Big Picture Panel: Janaya Khan, Black Lives Matter-Canada/Gender Justice L.A. & Dave McCulloch, Capitol Media Partners. Is the bold new world of marijuana legalization about to go up in smoke under President Trump?

1. Normalizer Syndrome. You want to believe Trump is just another president – more conservative than most, but one who will make rational decisions. You’re under a grave delusion. Trump and his ultra-conservative cabinet pose a clear and present danger to America and the world.

2. Outrage Numbness Syndrome. You are no longer outraged by what Trump says or does because you’ve gone numb. You can’t conceive that someone like this is our President so you’ve shut down emotionally. Maybe you’ve even stopped reading the news. Please get back in touch and re-engage with what’s happening.

3 Cynical Syndrome. You’ve become so cynical about the whole system – the Democrats who gave up on the working class, the Republicans who suppressed votes around the country, the media that gave Trump free air time, the establishment that rigged the system – that you say the hell with it. Let Trump do his worst. Well, you need to wake up. It can get a lot worse.

4. Helpless Syndrome. You aren’t in denial. You know that nothing about this is normal and you desperately want to do something to prevent what’s about to occur. But you don’t know what to do. You feel utterly helpless, powerless and immobilized.